


Opposites Attract (And Other Cheesy Chiches)

by notdeadyet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A look from fifth year on, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, I write about these lil nerds all the time tbh, I wrote the first bit as a one shot but once it got past 7k i decided to publish it as multi chap, IT'S COMPLETE NOW, this is my first multi chapter so I'm not sure how it will turn out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-01 19:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5218658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notdeadyet/pseuds/notdeadyet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scorpius Malfoy is an asshole - not sugar-coating it, no way around it. He's just a pessimistic dick.<br/>Rose Weasley is a cinnamon bun, too good for this world, too pure.</p><p>He froze, because, quite suddenly, Rose sat down in the vacant seat beside him. Scorpius stared at her. Finnigan stared at her. Rose’s cousin from across the room stared at her. She ignored them all and calmly took out her parchment and quill. Slowly, Scorpius sat back down as Binns floated through the chalk board.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fifth Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hey beautiful people:  
> This is my first multi chapter ever, so I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. This came to me randomly when I was procrastinating an assignment worth 30% of my grade, so I decided to write about 8k words and see what happened. Hope you like it!

Scorpius Malfoy was an asshole. There was no way around it, no denying it. He was just a pessimistic dick, and it made perfect sense than he was in Slytherin.

Rose Weasley was a cinnamon bun, too good for this world, too pure. She was nice to everyone, she smiled at people in the halls and helped first years with directions and homework. It made no sense whatsoever that she was in Slytherin.

No one understood why Rose was nice to Scorpius. No, they weren’t friends, they didn’t even really talk to each other. She would simply smile at him from time to time and pretend she didn’t see the scowl he would send her way in return.

\--

“Fuck off, Finnigan.” Scorpius sneered at the boy at the other end of the desk in History of Magic.

“Shove it, Malfoy. You’re just jealous.” The boy replied with a smirk.

“What the fuck am I supposed to be jealous about? That my ego isn’t as inflated as yours?” Scorpius asked indigently.

“Yeah, right, Malfoy. You’re the most egotistical person I know. But I’m talking about the fact that I got Seeker, and you didn’t.”

Scorpius never really participated in school events. He didn’t go to dances or Hogsmeade. But he really liked Quiddich, and this year he tried out for the first time. Scorpius had been so sure that he got it, and now the Finnigan idiot was boasting obnoxiously about it. Scorpius clenched his wands tightly and a made a move to stand, to wipe the smug little grin off-

He froze, because, quite suddenly, Rose sat down in the vacant seat beside him. Scorpius stared at her. Finnigan stared at her. Rose’s cousin from across the room stared at her. She ignored them all and calmly took out her parchment and quill. Slowly, Scorpius sat back down as Binns floated through the chalk board.

Goblin rebellions seemed particularly tedious today, mostly due to the fact that Scorpius wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the girl beside him as possible. With her just sitting there, he couldn’t even concentrate on not concentrating. His eyes kept slipping in her direction as she doodled aimlessly on her parchment. She was alright at drawing, Scorpius supposed, though he grew more and more unnerved are her drawings went from pretty flowers to full portraits of dementors sucking souls. When the class finally ended, Rose just rolled up her paper as though nothing strange had happened and walked out the door, followed closely by her cousin.

Scorpius was late to dinner that night. He had gone to the boy’s locker room to throw a quaffle around to blow off some steam and lost track of time. By the time he entered the hall, students were already halfway through dinner and most of the seats had been taken. There was one near the staff table, one beside some scrawny second year, one right in the middle of a group of chatty third year girls, and one right beside Rose.

Every step Scorpius took made him want to just turn around and leave. The seat near the staff table was looking more and more appealing as he neared the tiny red-head. Before he could change his mind, Scorpius sat down beside her, took the last roll off of her plate (she hadn’t eaten it yet, and rolls were his favourite, so he felt his theft was justified. She didn’t say anything about it, anyway) and started to load up his dinner in silence, well aware of the stares of half of the student body on him and the girl beside him.

She didn’t always sit beside him, and he only sat beside her at meals if there was no better alternative (there was rarely a better alternative). He started to notice a trend in her seating, however. Scorpius found that she would take a seat beside him when he was feeling particularly frustrated or angry, and her sudden presence would shock him into forgetting what he had been so upset about in the first place. He supposed that was her intention.

\--

“Oi, Malfoy!” Scorpius stopped mid-step in the hallway on his way to class. “Still angry about the seeker position?” Scorpius turned around slowly to stare at Finnigan’s smirking face. “Upset that Daddy didn’t buy you a place on the team?” Taking a step forward, Scorpius felt a rush of satisfaction at the falter in Finnigan’s smug expression. He raised his wand slightly, ready to strike the boy, when he paused at the sudden movement in the corner of his eye.

“Hello, Scorpius.” Scorpius and Finnigan both stared dumbly at Rose as she stood beside him. “I was wondering if you would like to be my Potions partner. I know you’re good at the subject and I could use a little help in that class.” Scorpius said nothing, and simply stared at her unwavering smile. “Great!” Rose acted as though Scorpius had readily agreed. “Let’s go to class, shall we?” Automatically, Scorpius fell into step with her.

“Yeah, that’s right, hide behind a girl!” Finnigan called after him and Scorpius could just hear the smirk on his face.

“I need to give something to Al, so we’ll take a bit of a detour. It may take slightly longer, but I hope you don’t mind.” Rose said just as Scorpius clenched his teeth in anger and prepared to turn around and hex Finnigan into oblivion.

Scowling, Scorpius shoved his wand back in his pocket, wondering why he was going with her in the first place. They walked together in silence, receiving more than a couple bewildered looks from other students.

“Hey Al! I have your Charms notes. We’re doing silencing charms, and you’re supposed to practice it before next lesson.” Rose said with a smile, giving a very shocked Albus a roll of parchment. “See you later!” She said before he could say anything.

She was a good Potions partner. She was competent enough with the coursework and simply seemed to get too impatient with what she was doing.

“Seven stirs.” Scorpius said to her angrily. “Not six.” 

Rose blushed. “I’m sorry!” Scorpius rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, good work! I see you and Mr. Malfoy are working together splendidly!” The professor said at the end of the lesson when she admired their potion. Scorpius scowled at her and left without a word. The potion was just as good as ever – the only difference now being that little Rose Weasley had been present during the process. Of course, the only way he would be able to receive praise would be when the girl made of sunshine and rainbows sat beside him. Not that he particularly wanted it – it was the principle of the issue.

Nevertheless, Scorpius sat beside her at dinner and let her continue to almost ruin his otherwise perfect potions.

Their silent arrangement continued neatly through the rest of the term and rolled over after Christmas as well. Now, however, gossip had increased. Some assumed they were dating, others claimed they were just sleeping together from time to time, and a few daring romantics thought they were in love with each other but their relationship was forbidden by their families.

As OWLs neared, Scorpius discovered Rose’s secluded table in the back of the library and decided to join her in studying.

“I actually found Denise Lawrence’s book on goblin revolutions to be more informative than Bagshot’s.” Rose said, breaking the silence one day when she noticed Scorpius’s mounting frustration over the paper he was trying to write.

“Whatever, Weasley.”

Rose pretended not to notice when, half an hour later, Scorpius took her textbook on goblin revolutions from the massive stack she had in front of her.

\--

“She doesn’t have any friends.” Scorpius was passing by a pair of girls talking to each other quietly, not paying attention to the people around them. “Just that Malfoy kid.” 

“Al said they aren’t actually friends, though.” There was only one person in the entire castle that could even remotely be described as Scorpius’s friend and, for some reason, Scorpius felt curiosity over whatever the girls were saying about Rose. “He said she just felt sorry for him.” That wasn’t altogether surprising. It was what Scorpius had assumed, too. He had a strange feeling of anger and disappointment at the girls’ words, though.

“I don’t know, Lily. Why would she feel sorry for him? He never asked for any sympathy.” The other girl countered.

“Rose is just weird like that.” Lily replied, and the two girls laughed. Scorpius felt something so unfamiliar to him that he almost couldn’t place it.

Protective. Scorpius felt protective over Rose as the girls insulted her.

What the fuck? Why would he feel that way? Before he could freak himself out any more, Scorpius rushed down in the hall, through the throng of people, as far away from anyone as he could get.

He liked going to the Astronomy tower. No one went there any more, ever since his dad went to school here. His dad didn’t like to talk about it, though, and Scorpius knew better than to ask. He wasn’t sure he would like the answer, anyway.

“Hey.” A soft voice said. Scorpius managed to say indifferent as Rose sat down beside him.

“The fuck are you doing here.” Scorpius didn’t ask, so much as state it. Of course she was here.

“You weren’t at the library.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just used to it by now.” The two sat in silence for a long time, probably missing dinner as the sky darkened and the stars came out.

“Weasley?”

“Yes, Scorpius?” If Rose was at all surprised by is softer tone of voice, she didn’t show it.

“Are we friends?”

“Yes.” She said with an air of obviousness, as though she wasn’t sure why the question was being asked in the first place.

“Okay.”


	2. Sixth Year pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so ends fifth year, and sixth year promises to be just as interesting as the one before it.

They exchanged the occasional letter over the summer holidays. Rose would tell him about her family and what they were up to (he learned that the Lily girl was her cousin, and he opted not to say anything about the conversation he overheard). In return, he told her about the castles he saw in Germany.

On September first in Kings Cross, Rose greeted him with a hug and seemed unfazed when he didn’t reciprocate. 

“Hey, Rosie, we were looking for you-” Albus Potter faltered when he saw Scorpius sitting across from Rose in the train compartment. Puffing out his chest slightly to make his prefect badge more visible, Albus continued, “We were wondering if you wanted to join us in our compartment.” Albus gave Scorpius a sideways glance that clearly said ‘You’re not invited.’

“Thanks for the offer, Al, but I’m good here.” Rose replied with a smile.

“Are you sure? Lily and Hugo want to play chess, and you’re the only one who can beat them.”

“I’m sure. See you at the feast, Al.” Albus smiled half-heartedly and sent Scorpius one last distrusting look before closing the compartment door.

“I don’t think your cousin likes me very much.” Scorpius said with a scowl.

“No offence, Scorpius, but not many people like you very much.” Rose replied with an eye roll. Scorpius stared at her.

“Am I hearing this correctly?” He said with a smirk, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “Did Rose Weasley just say something sarcastic?”

Rose blushed slightly and bit her lip to keep from smiling. “Shut up.”

“Oho, big words.” Scorpius said, raising his hands in mock surrender. Rose looked down at the book on her lap, a small smile on her face.

“Malfoy!” Finnigan opened the compartment door rudely. Scorpius sneered at him.

“Fuck off, Finnigan.” Scorpius replied.

“I don’t think so, Malfoy.”

“Go bother someone else for once, asshole. Do you really have nothing better to do with your life than throw me poorly worded insults?”

“I don’t think I will, Malfoy. See, I have some good ones this year, about your whore mother and Death Eater father.” 

Scorpius saw red. He clenched his wand and, almost unconsciously, glanced at Rose, who gave him a tiny head nod in reply, as though giving his permission to hex Finnigan into oblivion. 

“What, scared to hex me in front of a little Weasley slut?” Before Finnigan could blink, Scorpius threw hexes at him that knocked him out of the compartment and slammed him against the wall. Calmly, Rose stood, cast a silent memory charm on the unconscious boy, and closed the door to the compartment.

“Why did you do that?” Scorpius finally asked when he anger dissipated slightly. “Aren’t you supposed to, I don’t know, be a perfect little princess against violence?”

“I’m a Slytherin. I believe in doing what’s fair. Joseph insulted your family, and that’s not okay. When he taunted you about Quiddich, it wasn’t worth it.” Rose said as though it was totally obvious.

“And you.” Scorpius added before he could stop himself.

“What?”

“And you. He also insulted you.”

Rose tilted her head slightly, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Um… yes?”

Scorpius crossed his arms and let out a frustrated breath, refusing to meet her eyes. “It’s not okay to insult you, either.”

Rose stared at him, looking honestly confused. “I don’t… why?”

“God dammit, Weasley, do I have to spell it out for you? I thought you were supposed to be smart.” Scorpius growled and narrowed his eyes at her. “People aren’t allowed to mess with things I care about.” Rose’s eyes widened in comprehension and before he could do anything, she flung herself across the compartment and hugged him. “Merlin, what is it with you and hugs?” He said, annoyed, keeping his arms still by his sides. She only hugged him tighter, her curls tickling his chin.

\--

Scorpius found himself looking for her in crowds and feeling slightly gutted when she choose to sit beside her cousin instead of him. They sat in the Slytherin common room late into the night sometimes, watching the flames of the fire in silence. She would sit close enough to him that their legs press together and he won’t move them.

“Merlin, why are you wearing that if you’re so bloody cold?” Scorpius asked her angrily, gesturing to her sort sleeve t-shirt. It was a cold November night, and there weren’t many people in the common room with them.

“I’m not cold.”

“Yes, you are.” Scorpius said through clenched teeth. “I can feel you shivering.”

Rose sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” She made a move – maybe to stand and change her shirt, maybe to go to bed. Scorpius didn’t want that. So he grabbed a blanket from the chair beside them and put it over their shoulders before pulling her roughly against him.

“Oh!” She gasped slightly and froze in surprise and the strangely intimate position they were in before relaxing against him and pulling the blanket tighter around her.

They stayed like that for an hour.

“Would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?” Rose asked him a few days later.

“No.” Scorpius said evenly.

He met her in the entrance hall on Saturday morning and walked to the village with her. They went to Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks and he paid for her before she could even reach her purse. But it wasn’t a date, because she was Rose and he was Scorpius and, anyway, he had said no.

\--

In December, someone thought it would be very amusing to set up mistletoe around the school. And not just any mistletoe, but mistletoe that you could not escape from unless you kissed the person stuck with you.

Scorpius was very good at avoiding said mistletoe. Rose was not. Within the first week she had been caught three times, and every time Scorpius felt a surge of unrelenting anger when he saw her kiss someone.

Scorpius was coming out of the loo when someone called at him.

“Malfoy!”

Scorpius glared at the boy. “Finnigan. What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing. Just if you’ve got caught under the mistletoe with Weasley yet.” He replied with a smirk, examining his fingernails in apparent nonchalance. 

“Fuck off.” Scorpius said with a sneer before turning away.

“Because I have.”

“You’re lying.”

“Nope.” Finnigan said, popping the P. “I just snogged your dream girl about ten minutes ago.” Scorpius clenched his fists as Finnigan sauntered towards him. “She was good, too.” He had the nerve to wink at Scorpius. “I’d fuck her, if I got the chance.” Finnigan dropped his voice to a whisper. “I bet she’s a screamer.”

And that’s when Scorpius punched him in the face.

“Why are your knuckles bloody?” Rose asked when he reached for a textbook in front of her.

“I punched Finnigan in the face.”

“Okay.”

“Did you kiss him?” Scorpius asked almost two hours later.

“Who?”

“Finnigan.” Scorpius spat.

“Yes.” Rose said, looking at him. “He cornered me under the mistletoe.”

“Cornered you?” Scorpius clenched his fists tightly.

“You already punched him once today. You don’t need to go do it again.” Rose said with a sigh.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“He’s not allowed to do that to you.”

“Scorpius…” She said warningly. He glared at her. “I’m not going to let you kill him.”

Scorpius laughed incredulously. “How the fuck are you going to stop me? You’re about a foot shorter and I have your wand.”

Rose gasped almost comically. “You didn’t…”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Scorpius said with a smirk, holding her wand just out of her reach, “I did.” And he swept out of the library, Rose right on his tail.

“You can’t just-”

“Weasley. I’m not going to let him do that shit to you, okay?”

“But you already punched him!”

“I punched him because I didn’t like what he said about you. Now I need to punch him because I don’t like what he did to you.”

“Just slow down, Scorpius! Let’s talk about this.” Scorpius stopped, much to Rose’s surprise, “Thank you! Now…” Rose followed his gaze and saw, directly above them, mistletoe. “Oh.” Rose could feel Scorpius’s gaze move from the mistletoe to her and she blushed.

“Weasley?”

“Yeah?” She met his eyes and saw him staring back

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Okay.”

Scorpius’s kisses were soft. Rose thought he was going to pull away after the first one, but instead he put his arms around her and pulled her closer.

“Why did you sit beside me in History?” He asked he quietly between kisses.

“Because I didn’t want you to get a detention.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“I’m still going to go punch Finnigan.” Scorpius said when he finally pulled away, ruffling her hair before heading to the common room.

“Scorpius…!”

\--

Scorpius wasn’t sure if the kiss was a one-time deal or if he and Rose were a thing now. He wasn’t sure what he wanted. Sure, he really liked Rose and the protective feeling he had over her sometimes verged on possessiveness. But he also really liked her friendship, and he was worried that he would lose that.

They didn’t get caught under any more mistletoe and went home at Christmas as friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you reached the end!! I hope you were satisfied - next installment should be up soon - I've already written it. I also finished that assignment I was complaining about and I'm handing it in very soon... please wish me luck, I need to, you know, not fail out of one of my classes directly for my degree.


	3. Sixth Year pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas has passed - will a new year bring new changes?

“Weasley?” It was late January and the library was almost empty as snow fell softly outside.

“Yeah?”

“Want to go to Hogsmeade with me?”

“Sure.”

It wasn’t a date. At least, it wasn’t a date until she took his hand and he didn’t pull away. 

Rose was selecting Honeydukes products when Finnigan caught sight of them in the shop. He strolled over to Scorpius, a smirk plastered onto his face, obviously believing Scorpius wouldn’t start something in a shop. 

“Hello, Malfoy.” Scorpius scowled in response and turned back to watching Rose browse through candy. He could feel Rose’s hand clutch his tighter in warning. Finnigan noticed. “Oh! Is this a date?” He seemed to find great amusement in that.

“Fuck off.” Scorpius said to Finnigan as he pointed at one of the two chocolate bars Rose had in her hands.

“Did she tell you about the kiss? Did she tell you how good it felt?” Scorpius glanced down at Rose, who shook her head slightly. “Awe, you’re still taking orders from your little slut.” Rose didn’t even try to stop him when Scorpius punched Finnigan in the face again. She simply sighed and pulled him over to the cash register, where he paid an alarmed cashier for Rose’s chocolates, and dragged him away from the growing crowd of curious onlookers to the cold outside.

“You don’t need to do that.” Rose said quietly.

“I already told you, Weasley.” Scorpius said angrily. “He can’t mess with things I care about.” With a small smile, Rose stepped forward and hugged him.

“I’m still upset with you.” She said, voice muffled slightly from being pressed against his chest. Scorpius rolled his eyes as he ran a hand through her hair.

“It was Malfoy, Professor!” Scorpius looked over Rose to see a third year talking frantically to a professor supporting Finnigan. Before the professor could turn their head, Scorpius quickly dragged Rose down the closest alley and rushed to the back of a nearby house where they leaned against the wall, flushed. 

“Weasley?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Sure.”

The second kiss was even better than the first, because they were doing it out of choice, not necessity. There was also a wall, which Scorpius found quite helpful as he pressed Rose against it and lifted her up so they were level. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him even closer.

“Oi!” Rose let out a gasp of surprise and whipped her head around to face the lady standing at the back door with her hands on her hips. “What are you doing back here? This is private property!”

“I’m so sorry, Ma’am!” Rose said, pushing Scorpius away and blushing fiercely. He let her go half-heartedly and glared at the lady. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

“I’m at half a mind to owl the school and tell that two Slytherins are ravishing each other in my backyard!” Scorpius gave out a snicker before he could stop himself, causing the woman to glare at him and Rose to look at him with exasperation. He gave her an innocent look in return.

“I am truly sorry, Ma’am. We’ll just be on our way now. It won’t happen again, I’m sorry.” Rose said as Scorpius rolled his eyes and pulled her away from the scene.

“It better not!” The lady called back after them.

“You were so unhelpful back there.” Rose said to Scorpius once they got to the main road as he took her hand and led her back to the castle.

“What? You covered the whole apology thing pretty well.” Scorpius said. Rose looked like she was going to reprimand him but was interrupted by someone calling their names.

“Miss Weasley! Mr. Malfoy!” Rose turned around and gave the professor a look of pure innocence.

“Yes, Professor Appleby?”

The professor faltered at her expression but continued anyway. “I have been informed that the two of you engaged in some sort of muggle duelling with Mr. Finnigan.”

“Um, well, Professor, um…” Rose’s voice trailed off, obviously unsure of what to say. Scorpius, meanwhile, simply rolled his eyes.

The professor’s eyes narrowed. “Both of you. Detention. My office. 7 o’clock.”

“Yes, Professor.” Rose said quietly.

“Well, you can’t deny it was an eventful trip.” Scorpius said easily as they walked back to the castle.

“Eventful? We got detention!” Rose replied as though that was the worst thing in the world. Scorpius sighed.

“Come on, Weasley, detention’s not that bad.”

Rose looked at him like he was crazy.

Detention was just lines that night. Finnigan joined them, shooting Scorpius and Rose the occasional idiotic comment that made him want to punch Finnigan again, had Rose not look like she was about to cry. So, against his better judgement, Scorpius stayed silent, which only seemed to amuse Finnigan more.

When Rose went to bed that night, Scorpius gave Finnigan a powerful jellylegs curse before heading up to his dorm room.

“Scorpius.” Why the fuck was he dreaming about Rose’s voice? “Scorpius.” Something poked him hard.

“Wha…?” Scorpius blearily opened his eyes to see Rose standing, still in her pyjamas, beside his bed. It was dark outside and her arms were on her hips.

“You have to stop hexing Joseph.”

“No, I don’t. Go away.” Suddenly, his blanket was lifted and the cold air cooled his skin. “Fuck off, Rose.”

“Promise you won’t mess with Joseph anymore.”

“I’m cold. Give me my blanket back.” He glared at her.

“Not until you promise-” Scorpius yanked the blanket out of her hand, causing Rose to collapse on the bed beside him as he covered them with the blanket.

“Shut up and go to sleep.” He mumbled, pulling her against him before she could protest and falling back asleep with her tucked against his chest.

Scorpius was understandably alarmed when he woke up with someone on top of him on Sunday morning. As far as he could tell, both of them were dressed, so at least he didn’t engage in a night of drunken sex with some girl. When the body on top of him moved and he got a face full of red hair, however, he was caught between both shoving Rose off the bed and pulling her closer.

“Weasley.”

“Ughn.”

Scorpius reached up and pulled her hair. “Weasley. Wake up.”

“Wha…?” Rose blink drowsily and met his eyes. “Scorpius?”

“Get out of my bed.”

She pushed herself up, hands pressing against his chest, and sat cross-legged on his lap.

“You can’t hex Joseph anymore. Not for me.”

Scorpius scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself, Weasley. Not everything I do is about you.” She gave him a withering look, not buying his lie. “Get off me.”

“You called me Rose.”

“What?” Scorpius said, temporarily confused by the sudden change of topic.

“Last night. You called me Rose.”

Scorpius looked at her warily, slowly sitting up. “I did.”

Rose looked away, blushing slightly. “I like it when you call me Rose.”

Scorpius’s mouth slowly stretched into a smirk. “Do you?” Rose nodded, looking out the window. “Well then,” He put an arm around her, “I hope you realize,” He brought his other hand to her cheek, slowly turning her so she was facing him, “I’m never calling you Rose again.” This time, it was Rose who kissed him, leaning in and softly touching her lips to his.

“Whoa, what the hell?” Scorpius would have been totally happy with ignoring his roommate, but Rose seemed to feel otherwise. She gasped loudly and whipped her head around to see Aiden Nott staring at the two of them. Scorpius watched her with amusement as she buried her face in her hands, blushing fiercely. “Is that… Weasley?”

“Fuck off, Nott.” Scorpius said angrily, eyes not leaving Rose in fear that she would leave.

“What are you doing, bringing girls in here?” Nott replied loudly, waking up the other boys in the dorm room.

“The fuck are you on about, Nott?” Thomas Macmillan asked blearily.

“Malfoy brought Weasley in here.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Weasley would never do that.”

“Just look at them!” Nott pointed wildly at Scorpius and Rose, neither of whom were looking back at him.

“That is Weasley!” Jared Scrimgeour said in shock.

“I told you!”

“What the bloody hell is she doing here?”

“Where’s Finnigan?”

Rose, meanwhile, was burrowing herself against Scorpius. “They can still see you, love.” Scorpius told her unhelpfully. She glared at him. It was a very strange expression on her and Scorpius found it largely ineffective. 

The other three boys were still discussing the situation and they didn’t even notice Scorpius disillusion himself and Rose before sneaking out of the dormitory. It wasn’t until they reached an abandoned dungeon when Scorpius lifted the spell.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Told you I'd update! Hope you liked this one, too! Also I forgot to beg at the end of my other chapters - I would love it if you reviewed!!
> 
> Also, an update on my super interesting life (I'm sure many of you have stopped reading by now). I showed my 30% paper to my friend and she told me it was awful and I handed it in anyway, so I have that going for me. I got another super important paper back today, and I was literally shaking, because I was at a 63% in that class, and apparently, somehow, I managed to get an A??? I love low standards.


	4. Sixth Year pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Albus makes an appearance and an interrogation ensues.

“We’re going to be in so much trouble!” Rose said immediately, pacing the dungeon while he took a seat and propped his feet up on a desk, watching her. “I should have waited until the morning to talk to you, I knew it was against the rules to go to your dorm and I did it anyway! Oh, I’m going to get detention and my grades will drop and I will fail school-”

“Weasley.”

“-and my mum and dad will be so disappointed and Albus will be so angry because he said you’re ‘bad news’ and ‘not nice’-”

“Weasley.”

“-and he wouldn’t even listen to me when I told him that you’re actually just full of pent up anger and a bit protective-”

He grabbed her arm and kissed her, effectively shutting her up. “You aren’t going to get in trouble.” He told her when he finally pulled back.

“But-”

“Those guys know better than to get me angry.” Rose sighed again and stepped forward into a hug. She seemed to hug him a lot when he demonstrated any sort of affectionate protection over her. He wondered if she had ever gotten that before. Deciding to make the most out of his opportunities, Scorpius lifted her up onto the work table and kissed her, arms encircling her waist as lips crashed together. 

“Rose?” Scorpius was getting really tired of people interrupting them. “What are you doing?”

“Al!” Rose exclaimed in obvious surprise. Scorpius supposed the two of them were a sight to behold, both still in their pyjamas and kissing on a table in an empty dungeon. “Scorpius and I were just-”

“Snogging.” Scorpius finished before Rose could let the sentence trail off awkwardly.

“I can see that.” Albus replied, glaring at Scorpius.

“Then why did you ask?” 

“What are you doing down here, Al?” Rose asked, still sitting on the table.

“I was doing patrol.”

Rose furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “But… it’s the middle of the day.”

Albus crossed his arms. “Fine. I was looking for you because I heard some absolutely ludicrous rumour that you slept with him last night.”

She couldn’t help it. Rose giggled. “Did you just say ‘ludicrous’ in an actual sentence?” 

“Rose…”

Carefully extracting Scorpius’s arms from around her, Rose got off the table and walked towards her cousin. “Why does it matter to you so much?”

“Because I don’t want the whole school thinking my cousin is some sort of… scarlet woman!” Both Rose and Scorpius burst out laughing at that. “That’s what gram calls them…” Al said defensively.

“Weasley? A scarlet woman?” Scorpius asked, still laughing. “That’s ludicrous.” Rose started laughing again, and Al looked at her strangely.

“Something’s different with you, Rosie. He’s not good for you.”

“I’m standing right here.”

“Al, don’t be rude. He’s my best friend.”

“Rosie, he’s your only friend!” Al said angrily. Rose took a step back as though he had slapped her.

“I thought you were my friend.” She said quietly. Scorpius put his arms around her and she fell back against his chest. Scorpius wanted nothing more than to knock Albus’s lights out, but Rose needed him more.

“Oh, shit, Rosie, I didn’t mean it like that!” Albus said, taking a step forward. Scorpius glared at him.

“Leave.” He growled as Rose turned around and buried her face in his shirt. Albus looked at Rose’s back helplessly as Scorpius sat on the cold stone floor and held her in his lap. He folded under Scorpius’s glare and fled the room. Scorpius figured that Albus wasn’t the best example of a courageous Gryffindor.

“I have other friends, right?” Rose sounded so quiet and small that it broke his heart.

“You have me.”

“But-”

“You don’t need any other friends if you have me.”

Rose sighed and rested her cheek on his chest. “Are you going to punch Albus?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything I can say that will stop you?”

“Nope.”

Two days later, Albus Potter was walking around the castle with a black eye and Scorpius’s parents were finally called to the school.

\--

Scorpius slumped in the chair in the Headmaster’s office, glaring at Headmaster Longbottom and waiting for his parents to arrive.

“Scorpius!” He mother entered the room dramatically and hugged him. “How have you been?” She glanced back at her husband, who was giving her an exasperated look. “I mean… what is this we hear about fighting?”

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,” Longbottom interrupted awkwardly. “Please, have a seat.” He cleared his throat. “Scorpius has recently been… engaging some form of muggle duelling with his fellow students.”

“What do you mean by ‘muggle duelling’?” Mr. Malfoy asked warily.

“I punched Joseph Finnigan and Albus Potter in the face.”

“Why would you do something like that?” Mrs. Malfoy asked, confused. Scorpius shrugged.

“Scorpius.” Mr. Malfoy said firmly. “Why are you fighting with other students?”

Scorpius was saved answering by the sudden arrival of another student.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, Headmaster!” Rose said in a panic. “This was terribly rude of me. I am very sorry.” 

The Headmaster seemed to be trying not to smile. “It’s alright, Rose, take a seat.” Rose blushed and sat beside Scorpius.

“What are you doing here?” He asked her angrily under his breath.

“The Headmaster told me to come.” Rose whispered back.

“Rose, could you tell us what led to the events of Scorpius’s fighting with Joseph Finnigan?” The Headmaster asked kindly.

“Um… which time?” Rose asked awkwardly. Scorpius let out a short breath of laughter.

“In Honeydukes last… Rose, how many of these incidents have occurred?” Rose blushed deeply.

“Just… just that one. Obviously.” Rose stuttered. Scorpius put his head in this hand.

The Headmaster sighed. “Fine. What happened in Hogsmeade?”

“In Hogsmeade, Joseph said a few things that were quite rude to Scorpius and me, so Scorpius…”

“Broke his nose.” Longbottom finished, and Rose nodded.

Mr. Malfoy rubbed his temples. “Why must you resort to violence?” Scorpius shrugged again.

“Alright, Rose, so what about the incident with your cousin and Scorpius?”

“Al and I had a… disagreement-”

“So, this was between you and Albus, not Albus and Scorpius?”

“Um, yes. I mean, uh… no? Uh…”

“Weasley?” Scorpius said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Stop talking.”

“Yes. Um, okay.”

Mrs. Malfoy looked extremely confused. “I’m sorry, dear, but I don’t even really know who you are.”

“Right. Hello. My name is Rose. I’m Scorpius’s best friend.” Rose said, giving Mrs. Malfoy a sunny smile and Scorpius rolled his eyes.

“Are you? Well, isn’t that lovely! Draco, isn’t that wonderful?” Mr. Malfoy just looked pained.

“Can we get back to the issue at hand here?” The Headmaster said, sounding rather exhausted.

“I’m sure Scorpius won’t do it again.” Mrs. Malfoy said to Longbottom a smile. Rose had to kick Scorpius to keep him from laughing out loud.

“The fact still remains that Scorpius has injured at least two students unprovoked within a span of four days.”

“But Rose said he was verbally provoked.” Mrs. Malfoy reminded Longbottom.

“Be that as it may, verbal insults do not give permission for violence.”

“Well, what do you propose?” Mr. Malfoy asked.

“Detention for a month. And a warning – if this happens again, he will be suspended.” Longbottom said firmly, and Scorpius rolled his eyes again, putting a hand on Rose’s knee before she could gasp.

With that, the four of them left the office. As soon as they were back in the halls, Rose turned and hugged him.

“Oh, that went much better than expected!” She said happily.

“No thanks to you.” Scorpius added, smirking at her insulted expression.

“I still don’t understand why you hurt those boys, Scorpius.” Mr. Malfoy said before Rose could try to uselessly defend herself.

“They messed with her.” Scorpius said as though it was obvious, pointing at Rose.

“I don’t understand.” His father said cautiously.

“People aren’t allowed to mess with her.”

Rose stepped in when the man continued to look confused. “Scorpius cares about me. He can be very protective.”

“You are adorable.” Mrs. Malfoy declared.

Rose grinned at her. “Thanks.”

“We best be off, Astoria.” Mr. Malfoy said before his wife could start a game of twenty questions with Rose.

“Oh, yes, of course! Keep him out of trouble, Rose!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 done!! So stoked tbh. I've always liked writing about Draco and Astoria, and there will be more of them to come! Also I realize my chapter titles are pretty lame, but I've never been good at that sort of thing, as you can tell from my mediocre title. Please review, it honestly makes my day.
> 
> In other news, about an hour after I handed in my super important paper my friend told me it was awful and not academic at all and it's all my own fault because apparently I have a difficult time separating academia from prose. But, I do get good creative writing grades, which isn't totally and completely useless for my degree at all.


	5. Summer pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Perhaps you should invite her over. I would quite like to meet her."  
> "Maybe I will."

The rest of the year went by smoothly. They weren’t quite dating – both of them defined the other as best friend. Scorpius refrained from physical violence, mostly because Finnigan and Rose’s family seemed to be avoiding them and also because Scorpius was pretty sure Rose would freak out if he got suspended. They ended up snogging in broom cupboards a lot, which was a change in their relationship that Scorpius quite enjoyed.

\--

“Hello Scorpius dear.”

“Hello Grandmother.” Scorpius had always gotten along well with his grandmother.

“How has school been?” It was summer, and Scorpius was sitting in his living room, reading an extremely dull book that Rose had lent him for the third time.

“Fine.”

“Your mother told me something about a friend.” His grandmother was never very subtle at steering a conversation.

“Yes. Weasley.” Scorpius said stiffly.

“What’s she like?” Scorpius looked down at his hands and Narcissa had never seen her grandson look so shy before.

“She’s, um, really nice to everyone. And really smart. She’s in Slytherin and she likes me, which is pretty strange, I guess.” That was the most emotion Narcissa had ever heard from Scorpius.

“Perhaps you should invite her over. I would quite like to meet her.”

Scorpius’s mouth slowly stretched into a smirk. “Maybe I will.”

\--

Rose got a letter a few weeks in to the holidays.

Weasley – You’re coming over tomorrow. I’m picking you up at noon. SM

She wondered when she should tell her parents.

“I’m worried about her.” Hermione said quietly to Ron and Harry. Rose was rereading a letter with a small smile on her face.

“She seems different.” Harry agreed. “She and Al aren’t getting along as well now. Oi! Al!” Harry called his son over. “What happened between you and Rose?”

Al looked at Rose apprehensively. “We had a bit of a disagreement.”

“You and Rose?” Hermione asked, surprised. It was almost unheard of for Rose to get in a disagreement with someone. Al nodded sheepishly. “What about?”

“I, er, sort of told her I didn’t like her choice in friends and she got upset and Malfoy gave me a black eye.”

“Malfoy? As in Scorpius Malfoy? What’s he got to do with this?” Ron asked, confused.

“They’re best friends. And I walked in on them snogging.”

“My daughter was snogging a Malfoy?” Ron said loudly. Rose looked up from the letter and narrowed her eyes at them in such a Scorpius-like manner than it made Albus uncomfortable. 

“Yes, I was.” Rose said, walking over to them.

“But… why did he give Al a black eye?” Harry asked.

“He’s pretty protective.” None of the adults seemed to know what to say to that. “He’s also going to be here in about five minutes.”

“What?” Hermione asked.

“I’m going over to his house.”

“Why?” Her mother sounded confused.

“He invited me. Kind of. Here.” Rose passed them the letter, which they read in silence. Ron seemed to be getting steadily angrier.

“This isn’t an invitation! This is a command!” He said, pointing violently at the letter. Rose rolled her eyes and everyone was shocked into silence.

“Rosie, what has he done to you?” Hermione asked quietly, very concerned.

“He hasn’t done anything, mum.” Rose said with a sigh.

“You’re not going over to his house.” Ron said, crossing his arms.

“Yes, I am.” Rose said, putting her hands on her hips.

Suddenly, there was a crack outside. “That’s him!” Rose said happily before rushing outside, followed quickly by her parents, uncle, and cousin. “Hey, Scorpius!”

“Hello, Princess.” He replied, running a hand through her hair as she hugged him. Ron seemed to choke slightly at the term ‘princess’. “Shall we go?”

Rose grinned at him. “We shall. Bye Mum, Dad!”

“Wait! Rosie, when are you going to be home?” But Hermione was too late – they were already gone.

\--

“… And that, sweetheart, is checkmate.” Scorpius said smugly, moving his bishop. Rose furrowed her eyebrows and stared at the board before smiling.

“Actually, Scorpius, you will find that it isn’t.” She said with a Malfoy-like smirk before moving her rook to take out the bishop. Scorpius scowled at her.

“Do you ever call her Rose?” Astoria asked curiously. She had been watching their game from the armchair with interest. Her son had used endearments from love to gorgeous and the occasional Weasley, but he had yet to call his (girlfriend? Lover?) best friend by her first name.

Rose sighed. “He did once.”

“Once?”

Scorpius smirked at her. “She told me she liked it when I called her by her first name. So I refuse to do it.”

Astoria rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

Dinner was an interesting affair. Scorpius’s father seemed to be slowly warming up to Rose (when she told him she was in Slytherin he grew considerably less icy) and Narcissa went on about what a lovely young lady she was. Astoria almost exploded with praise when Rose offered to help with the dishes. Scorpius was almost sickened by the amount of affection and was forced to drag Rose to the sitting room.

Scorpius leaned back on the couch, putting his arm behind his head and watched as Rose perched on the edge. With yet another eye roll, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down so they were lying chest-to-chest.

“I think your mum likes me.” She said with a smile, playing with his free hand.

“Understatement of the century there, darling. She bloody loves you.” Scorpius replied before tilting his head to kiss her. She sighed against his mouth as he brought is arm around her waist and pressed her closer against him.

“I should probably head home soon.” She said quietly a few minutes later. “My parents will be angry with me.”

“Nah. You already pissed them off. Spend the night with me.”

“That’s not going to help me convince them that you aren’t a bad influence on me.”

“But my dear,” Scorpius said, kissing the tip of her nose, “I am a bad influence on you.”

Everything about Scorpius’s bedroom was comfortable. The boxers and t-shirt he gave her to wear to bed, the fluffy carpet, the sheets, the duvet, and, really, Scorpius himself.

“Scorpius, you’re treating me like a teddy bear.” Rose said as he pulled her against his chest and pressed kisses to the top of her head.

“That’s what you are, Princess. You’re my teddy bear.” He said, and Rose could practically hear his smirk. Rose rolled herself around in his arms so she faced his chest and kissed his cheek.

“Let’s have sex.” She said.

Scorpius smirked at her. “Thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Thanks for reading chapter five! I hope you liked how I wrote Narcissa - I like the idea of her prejudice fading after the war. For this story, I didn't write in Lucius, and I assume he passed on a few years earlier. Please review or just tell me about what you're up to!
> 
> Also, university pro-tip: remember to eat. Since Tuesday afternoon all I had a couple saltine crackers and half a plate of Chinese food and I was shaking through my first class this morning. My intention was to save money but I suggest doing it in a way in which you don't almost pass out halfway through archaeology 103.


	6. Summer pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not very surprising that Ron and Hermione Weasley were worried about their daughter who had been taken from their front lawn with no prior warning.

“When do you think they’ll start dating?” Astoria asked her husband over breakfast the next morning. Scorpius and Rose were both still asleep upstairs even though it was close to ten am – teenagers.

“Hmm? Aren’t they?” Draco asked, reading the Prophet and drinking coffee.

“No, but they were snogging on the couch after dinner and she did spend the night with him.” Astoria said thoughtfully, stirring her tea.

“She spent the night? And you didn’t stop it? Isn’t there some sort of maternal code against letting your son have sex with his best friend while you’re in the same house?”

“Probably. I didn’t get a handbook when I became a mother, though, so who knows?”

There was a loud knock on the front door, which Astoria and Draco found very strange. The only guests they ever had was Narcissa and, now, Rose. Cautiously, they made their way to the front door.

“Calm down, Ron. She’s probably fine.”

“Hermione, some guy literally took her from our front lawn about twenty two hours ago, and we have no idea where they went, and you’re telling me to be calm?” A voice Draco knew very well said indigently. “And Al told us that boy wasn’t good for her! He punched our nephew in the face!”

“Yes, Ron, but apparently this was after Al told Rose that she had no friends. So shouldn’t that be good, in a way? That a boy is, um, looking out for her?”

“No.”

Draco, meanwhile, had visibly paled. Astoria sighed and, leaving her husband in the parlor, opened the door to see two people bickering on their welcome mat.

“Hello! How may I help you?” Astoria said as though she had no idea who Ron and Hermione Weasley were.

“Hello, my name is Hermione.” Hermione said, putting a hand on her husband’s chest to keep him from shouting. “We were actually looking for our daughter, Rose. She left our house unexpectedly yesterday and hasn’t yet returned.” Draco felt he should really lecture his son on etiquette when taking the daughter of two war heroes without prior notice to the house of their childhood nemesis. 

“Perhaps you should come inside.” Astoria said, gesturing the two into their home. Hermione managed to nod politely at Draco while Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Draco didn’t blame him – as far as they knew, his son had just abducted their daughter.

“I met Rose yesterday, actually.” Astoria said when they were all seated. “Had I known our son had not told you of her whereabouts or duration of her stay, we would have contacted you in some way.”

“So, Rose is here?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“Yes, she should be just upstairs.” Astoria reassured them. Hermione and Ron made a move to stand, probably to go lecture their daughter and yell at her (boy?) friend. “But she may be currently… indecent.”

Hermione caught on first. She sat back down and put her head in her hands. “I’m not sure why I’m surprised at that.” She said rather dejectedly.

“What’s happening? Hermione, what does that mean?” Ron asked and Draco felt he was in a current state of extreme denial.

“She and… Scorpius had sex.” Hermione told him, exasperated. 

“What? She’s too young to be having… having… doing that!” Ron said, ears turning red with both anger and embarrassment. 

“She’s of age, Ronald.” Hermione said with a sigh.

They heard Rose and Scorpius before they saw them. “You’re just impatient.” “Maybe you’re just slow.” “Obviously not. I got an O and you, my love, got an E.” “Potions is a useless subject anyway.” “If you want to talk about useless subjects, let’s start with Herbology.” “You can’t even have your precious potions without – oh. Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad.” Rose said awkwardly. Astoria noticed Scorpius put his hand lightly on her hip. She wondered if that was what Rose had meant by ‘protective’ back at Hogwarts. She hoped Scorpius didn’t break the nose or blacken the eye of his (girl?) friend’s parents. The two adults stared at their daughter.

“You can’t just do that to us, Rose!” Hermione finally said. “You can’t just leave all of a sudden with a boy we’ve never even heard of and not come home, and Al told us stories about fighting and snogging for years now and you never even thought to mention it to us!”

Rose bit her lip and seemed to be leaning on Scorpius slightly. “Well, technically, it never really came up in a conversation, so I never bothered to mention it.” She said quietly.

“The snogging’s only been going on for about eight months, though.” Scorpius added unhelpfully. Astoria saw Rose subtly step on his foot.

“But you’re friends.” Hermione said slowly.

Rose grinned at her. “Best friends!”

“And you’re okay with this?” Ron said, rounding at Draco.

“I’m okay with anything that makes my son happy, and your daughter seems to do that.”

“Well I’m not okay with it.” Ron said grumpily, and Astoria noticed Scorpius tighten his hold on Rose’s hip slightly.

“Um, no offense, Dad, but even if you’re not okay with it I’m still going to be friends with Scorpius.” Rose said awkwardly. Scorpius looked down at her and smirked.

“Oh, honey, we can’t just have you going to boy’s houses for the night!” Hermione said, sounding tired.

“But you let Hugo go over to boy’s houses for the night!” Rose said with an air of impatience.

“That’s a totally different situation! We would be fine with you going to Alice’s house for the night!” Ron said angrily.

“Dad, Hugo’s gay! It’s the exact same situation!” Rose said.

“He’s what?” Hermione asked, obviously surprised. Rose quickly covered her mouth in alarm while Scorpius bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“Smooth.” He muttered into her hair.

“Don’t tell Hugo I told you that.” Rose said, voice muffled through her hand.

Hermione sighed. “I supposed you are seventeen, and there’s nothing I can really do to stop you, can I?” She asked her daughter.

“Nope.” Rose said happily. “Scorpius was going to make me pancakes, so…”

“Oh. Okay. Be back for afternoon tea at the Burrow.” Hermione said before her husband could go off about the dangers of pancakes. 

“Can I bring Scorpius?” Rose asked, and Scorpius glared at her. She ignored him.

“Um…” Hermione said, trying to find a polite was to say no.

“Great!” Rose said before leading Scorpius to the kitchen.

“I don’t want to go to afternoon tea.” Scorpius said to her angrily as he took ingredients out of the cupboards.

“Too bad.” Rose said with a smile, hopping up on his counter as their parents’ bid awkward goodbyes in the next room.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No.” Scorpius repeated, pouring flour and milk much more violently than necessary. Rose simply smiled at him and kissed his forehead from where she was sitting on the counter. He scowled at her. She seemed not to notice.

Afternoon tea was rather awkward. Albus and Scorpius ignored each other for Rose’s sake, and Hugo and Lily seemed wary of them. Rose’s grandparents were nice enough, and Teddy greeted him warmly, as they were second cousins (or something of the sort). It seemed that most of the younger cousins looked up to Teddy, so after their civil conversation it was (slightly) less awkward. The adults were a bit of a different story, as most of them had known Draco as children and had fought against him during the second war. Though Scorpius could understand where they were coming from, it was still a bit depressing to see people judge him so quickly. It was times like this when Scorpius resented how similar he looked to his father. Rose was helpful, though, as she seemed to be adamant to not let go of his hand for the entire afternoon. Scorpius felt like many of the family members respected Rose’s judgement, so between her and Teddy, the afternoon was not as awful as it could have been.

They had sex in one of the spare rooms on the upper floors, which was excellent. When they came back downstairs, only Al looked suspicious. It probably didn’t help their relationship when Scorpius winked very suggestively at Al before standing behind Rose and kissing the top of her head as she chatted with Victorie. 

“Well, that wasn’t totally horrible.” Scorpius said outside Rose’s front door later that night.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Rose replied, smiling at him. Scorpius rolled his eyes before leaning over to kiss her, only breaking away when someone cleared their throat very impatiently behind them.

Scorpius leaned his forehead on hers. “Don’t miss me too much, beautiful.” He said with a wink before turning around to smirk at her parents. “Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley.” Before they could reply, he apparated away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What chapter is this, 6? Yeah, six, cool. Well, I'm still going strong with writing, but pretty soon these daily updates will catch up with me, so we can find out when together! I hope you liked it!! Please review!!!
> 
> Just an update about Canadian politics, which no one really cares about, but whatever - our new PM is still pulling back troops from the middle east and is now in the process of legalizing marijuana. He is also kind of hot. What's not to love?


	7. Seventh Year pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seventh year begins, so what's in store for Rose and Scorpius?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I know what's in store for Rose and Scorpius, but I'm the author so I don't think that counts.

Rose hugged him on the platform again, and Scorpius looked over her shoulder to see her father glaring back at him. Scorpius figured it wouldn’t be appropriate to smirk. He smirked anyway.

“I can’t believe we’re starting seventh year!” Rose exclaimed, sitting with her legs crossed on the seat in their compartment. “Oh, it seems like just yesterday when Al was worrying about being in Slytherin! He kept telling me he was jealous because I was obviously going to be in Gryffindor like my mum and dad.” Scorpius sat down beside her and put his feet up on the seat across from them. “And we all saw how that turned out.”

“You’re a pretty good Slytherin, really. You just have to work on your self-loathing and general dislike for anything related to Harry Potter.”

“That’s why I have you.”

“Hey, Rosie,” Like the year before, Albus Potter opened their compartment door without warning. This time, however, he simply ignored Scorpius.

“Hi, Al.” Rose said with a smile.

“I was wondering if you had my Head Boy badge. I can’t seem to find it anywhere.” Al said awkwardly.

“I’ll check my trunk.” Rose replied before standing on the seat and reaching above her.

“How have you been, Potter?” Scorpius asked to fill the silence, watching Rose to make sure she didn’t collapse under the weight of her trunk.

“Fine.” Al said shortly.

Rose opened her trunk on the floor and skimmed through the first layer.

“Is that lace?” Scorpius asked as he reached for some article of clothing.

“Scorpius!” Rose said, blushing fiercely and shoving the thing farther under layers of clothing. Al looked slightly repulsed by both Rose’s fashion choices and Scorpius’s extremely suggestive reaction. “It doesn’t seem to be in here, Al. Have you checked with Alice? You were spending a lot of time with her over the summer.” Rose’s comment sounded innocent, but both boys could hear the innuendo. Scorpius smirked at Albus as he reddened slightly.

“Um, no. I’ll just go now.” Al said quickly before leaving the compartment in a flash. Scorpius waited for the door to close before turning to Rose. She pulled out her robes and slammed the trunk shut before he could get a closer look.

“That was definitely lace.” Scorpius said as Rose turned her back to him and pulled on her robes. His smirk stretched into a grin when she didn’t reply. “I better see them by the end of the week.”

“Maybe.” Rose said with a small smile. Scorpius grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his lap. Needless to say, he didn’t get around to changing his robes for quite some time.

\--

“Hey, Rose!” It was October, and Scorpius was taking Rose’s roll when a seventh year Ravenclaw he vaguely recognized sat down beside Rose.

“Hello, Dylan.” Rose said, smiling at him.

“So there’s a Hogsmeade weekend coming up,” Scorpius froze. He knew exactly where this was going. Rose, however, did not, as confirmed by her shock when the Ravenclaw said, “And I was wondering if you would like to go with me. You know, on a date.”

“Oh! Um…”

“I mean, you aren’t seeing anyone, right? At least, that’s what Al Potter said…” The boy said. Scorpius gripped his fork tightly. He was going to kill the Head Boy.

“I… I don’t know.” Scorpius didn’t blame her for looking confused, but it still pissed him off. Though they had never confirmed it, it was pretty obvious to him that they were in a committed relationship. He felt like they had passed a ‘friends with benefits’ thing quite some time ago. “I’m kind of seeing someone.” Scorpius supposed that was better than claiming she wasn’t seeing anyone at all.

“Kind of?”

“Yeah. Um, Scorpius.” Her voice was growing slightly more confident. “I’m kind of seeing Scorpius.” Scorpius wasn’t sure if he should step in yet.

“Like an off-and-on thing?” The boy was relentless! 

“Like an always-on thing, actually.” She said and Scorpius could feel her moving slightly closer to him on the bench. He not-so-subtly put his free arm around her waist

“Then why would Al say you weren’t seeing anyone?” Scorpius was coming to realize the boy was just painfully ignorant. 

“Al might be slightly misinformed.” Rose said politely.

“Oh. Well, um, sorry to bother you, then.” The boy said, finally meeting Scorpius’s glare.

“It’s alright. Have a nice dinner, Dylan.” Rose said with yet another smile. Sometimes her niceness sickened Scorpius.

“I’m going to murder your cousin.” Scorpius said when Rose turned back to her meal.

“Please don’t.” She said. “He’s just… doing his duty as my cousin?"

“No, sweetheart. He’s just being an asshole.”

“Maybe he just didn’t know?” Rose said unconvincingly.

“Oh, he knew. He just doesn’t like me. Remember? I’m a bad influence.” Scorpius said with a smirk before looking over at the Gryffindor table, where Albus caught his sneer and paled before looking away quickly.

\--

“Oi! Potter!” Scorpius had waited until Rose wasn’t around to approach Albus. The Head Boy froze and looked around the empty hall before meeting Scorpius’s eyes warily. “What do you think you’re doing, spreading rumours?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Al said, obviously knowing what he meant. He folded under Scorpius’s glare. “I just mentioned that neither of you had said anything about being official.”

“Sometimes it can go without saying, you bloody moron!” Scorpius said angrily.

“I just… I don’t like how much she’s changed. And besides, I don’t trust you with her. She’s the only girl you’ve ever been with – what if you end up meeting someone else and breaking her heart?” Al said as though that was a legitimate possibility. 

Scorpius looked at him incredulously. “What kind of bullshit is that? There are no other girls out there! She’s the only one who talked to me and sat with me and told me we were best friends! No other girl could possibly do that for me! Back in fifth year, before we were a thing, I tried to look at other girls because I thought there would be no way in hell she would go for me but it didn’t work. It could never work. I feel all empty when she isn’t around and she’s all I think about and… I hate this. Why the fuck am I telling you this? I’m already late. And we’re a thing now, by the way, before you send any more boys after her in some desperate attempt to get rid of me because, Potter,” Scorpius leaned in and smirked at him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Hey.” Rose said when he finally arrived in the common room. “What were you doing?”

“Yelling at your cousin.”

“Okay.” Rose paused and looked confused. “Just yelling?”

“Yeah.” Scorpius said, staring at the fire. Rose smiled at him before cuddling closer and resting her head on his shoulder. Scorpius put an arm around her and pulled her in tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOO how did you like it? I was satisfied, I think, and I hope you feel the same. Up next we have more of Joseph, and that never ends well. Please remember to review, or just tell me how your day has been going.
> 
> I really should be doing an assignment for Geography 129, but I decided to, instead, play Ib (that horror game - it's actually pretty good, I recommend it) and write more of this story.


	8. Seventh Year pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no way Joseph Finnigan just took Scorpius's seat in the library just to study Transfiguration.

Scorpius had almost forgotten Joseph Finnigan existed. Ever since the Hogsmeade incident the year before, the boy seemed to be ignoring and avoiding Scorpius as much as possible. Scorpius definitely wasn’t complaining, however. Finnigan had been the most common cause of Scorpius’s frustrations, and without him life was mellower, to an extent.

So when Scorpius entered the library one day to see Finnigan in his usual seat beside Rose, he was confused and angry. As he neared them, he started to pick up on bits on the conversation.

“… And since you’re the best in our year at Transfiguration, I thought you would be the best tutor for me.” Finnigan said, sitting much too close to Rose in Scorpius’s opinion.

“You never seemed to have any trouble with the subject before.” Rose said, and Scorpius couldn’t tell if she was honestly confused or just trying to get rid of him. Scorpius hoped it was the latter.

“Yeah, but with NEWTs coming up I’m going to need all the help I can get.” He couldn’t be serious. Finnigan must be planning something.

“I suppose…” Rose said slowly. Scorpius’s stomach dropped. She was going to be nice, wasn’t she? “You could study with Scorpius and me.” Sometimes, Scorpius hated her sunshine personality.

“Hello, love.” Scorpius said, kissing her forehead. Since the seat beside her was taken, Scorpius was forced to sit across the table.

“Hey, Scorpius.” Rose said, smiling at him. “Joseph was just wondering if he could study Transfiguration with us.”

Scorpius ran through his options. He could tell Finnigan to go fuck himself, which would be his number one choice, but he figured Rose may be disappointed in him, and he couldn’t stand to have her give him such a look. He could leave, but that would give Finnigan the opportunity to spend time alone with Rose, which he didn’t want either. Perhaps Scorpius’s best option would be to grudgingly agree, get Transfiguration over with, and get Finnigan out of his sight.

“Fine.” He grumbled, ignoring Finnigan’s smug smirk.

The following two hours were torture. He tried to ignore Rose guiding Finnigan’s hand to show him correct wand movements and somehow managed to stay calm as Finnigan’s hand lingered for much too long on Rose’s arm.

When Finnigan finally left, Scorpius took Rose’s arm and dragged her to a far corner of the library. He paced in front of her as she leaned warily against the bookshelves.

“I don’t like it when Finnigan’s talking to you like that.” He said harshly, not looking at her.

“Okay, Scorpius, there’s protective and there’s possessive. I don’t mind the protective. It can be overbearing at times, but I get it. But you can’t treat me like an object that you own.” She said firmly. Rose was angry (or, as angry as Rose could be) and Scorpius didn’t like that one bit. This wasn’t going well.

“It’s not like that! I… I can’t stand even the idea of you getting hurt in any way. And you’re too nice to stand up for yourself so I have to be there to make sure you’re… safe. When I overheard those girls talking about you and me I was so confused because I got really angry about what they were saying about you and not me. When Finnigan insulted you it made me so angry because you didn’t do anything to deserve that – he was just trying to get to me. And in detention he just kept provoking you even though you were already stressed out so I had to do something about it. And when Potter said that to you and I could see you hurting it broke my fucking heart and there was no way that asshole was going to get away with doing that to you. And just now, while Finnigan was flirting with you it was terrifying because I can’t imagine life without you right now and if you decided you liked Finnigan more than me and you left me for someone like him, I would fucking die.”

“Oh.” Rose whispered, staring at him with wide, unreadable eyes.

“Yeah, oh.” Scorpius replied sarcastically. When she continued to not say anything, Scorpius closed his eyes and leaned back on the shelf behind him. “I’m not trying to own you. I just don’t want you to leave me.” She didn’t step forward to hug him like she usually did and Scorpius was starting to freak out. He messed up, he ruined everything, she was never going to talk to him again, she would leave him and go back to her cousins like they all wanted her to. “Why did you sit beside me in History?” He asked the silence. Scorpius at least wanted to know that.

“Hugo had a huge crush on Joseph and wanted me to make sure he stayed pretty.” Rose replied quietly, still hiding her emotions.

“Really?”

“Mostly.” They were quiet for a long time. “Scorpius?” He grunted in response, still too scared to open his eyes. “I think I might be falling in love with you.” His eyes snapped open and he stared at her. She looked anxious, eyes not meeting his.

“Rose.” Her eyes met his and he smirked slightly at her expression. “I’m already in love with you.”

-

Hugo stared at Scorpius. Scorpius stared back. Hugo had stopped him on his way to meet Rose in the library and Scorpius wasn’t quite sure what the kid wanted, so he waited.

“I don’t like you very much.” Hugo said slowly.

“Shocking.” Scorpius replied in monotone.

“You’re kind of mean sometimes and you scare me a bit.” Hugo explained.

“Right.” Scorpius said. He just loved talking to Rose’s family.

“You also don’t really like anyone and you gave Al a black eye last year.”

“Do you have a point, or am I supposed to stand here while you point out my flaws, because if that’s the case we might be here for a while.”

“Right. Um, you really seem to like Rose, though, and I think she likes you, but… I don’t really have a point here.” Hugo said, biting his lip in worry. He and Scorpius were almost matched in height and Scorpius figured he would have a harder time taking down Hugo than Albus.

“Okay… I’m going to leave now.” It was one of the strangest conversations Scorpius had that year.

“Wait!” Scorpius looked at Hugo impatiently. “Could you maybe tell Rose that I miss her? And if we could play chess again sometime?”

Scorpius sighed. “Tell her yourself.”

Hugo seemed to brighten at the idea. “Alright. I’ll come with you, then.” Scorpius couldn’t think of a reason for him to tell the kid to go away, so instead he started to walk to the library. “Rose seems like she’s always studying. Is that all you guys do?”

Scorpius smirked. “I don’t really want to go into detail with you about what your sister and I do.”

It took Hugo a few seconds to catch on. “Oh, gross.” He said, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

Rose looked pleasantly surprised when she saw Hugo come into the library with Scorpius.

“Hey, Hugh!” She said, smiling at her brother. “What brings you here?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to play chess later.” He said, standing awkwardly at their table.

“Sure!” Rose said instantly. Scorpius tried to deny his feeling of jealousy. Not that Hugo was taking Rose away from him, but that Rose had a person like that she could fall back into a loving relationship with so easily. Scorpius was quite surprised when Rose took his hand and dragged him along with her to the Ravenclaw common room, where Scorpius, Rose, and Hugo played chess into late at night. Scorpius didn’t find the boy as painfully annoying as he had originally believed. Now he felt… brotherly annoyed with him. It was a strange and weirdly pleasant sensation.

Hugo started to say hi to them in the halls more, and every Sunday the three of them started to meet up to play chess. After a few weeks of being friendlier to Hugo, it seemed like a couple other cousins’ of Rose’s were less icy towards him. The Lily girl started to give him tiny nods in the hallways instead of blatantly ignoring him, and the dark girl with the crazy hair smiled at him once or twice. Rose also had a new sparkle in her eye now that her family wasn’t totally avoiding her. Though Scorpius didn’t particularly care about approval, he felt that Rose’s happiness was contagious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG did you all like Scorpius's confession??? I loved writing that part, I felt like it helped tie a couple loose ends a bit. I've also always liked Hugo and I'm glad I got to write him in. Please review, it makes my entire day.
> 
> On a side note, I went skiing today and couldn't see anything because I can't wear my glasses under my goggles and it's a miracle I survived. Also I seem to be living on a diet of french fries and tears and cookies and cream hershey's chocolate bars - learn from my mistakes and get better food.
> 
> AND DID Y'ALL HEAR ABOUT THE LOCK DOWN IN BRUSSELS??? I hope you guys are safe, though I'm not sure if any of you would bother to read this fanfic


	9. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas holidays are never a boring affair, to say the least.

“We always have Christmas Eve at the Burrow and I play chess with Uncle Charlie for ages. Gran always makes supper for everyone on Christmas Eve and we all pitch in to help because Christmas Day is always too busy for us to make anything except turkey sandwiches and pie. Then we spend the next morning doing gift exchange and the rest of the day outside until it’s too dark.” Rose told him. They were on the train back to London for Christmas break and Rose was telling him all their Christmas traditions. She had invited him over for Christmas Eve, but he couldn’t handle so many people disliking him at once.

“You’re coming over to my place for Christmas dinner then.” Scorpius said, unwrapping a candy cane.

“Really?” Rose sounded surprised.

“Course. Christmas is always so dull. Grandmother comes over, and Aunt Daphne, Uncle Vance, and my moronic cousin. You can provide me with some entertainment.”

“I can? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. My mum loves you and if I have to sit through one more conversation about how fantastic Durmstrang is and how hot my cousin’s girlfriend is I’m going to kill someone.”

“Okay then!” Rose said happily, leaning on his shoulder as snowy hills rolled by outside.

-

It only took a few moments after Scorpius arrived at the gate outside the Burrow for Rose to appear, waving good-bye to her brother. Scorpius could see Rose’s father glaring at him through the kitchen window before he spun Rose into a hug and kissed her before apparating them back to the Manor.

As Scorpius expected, his mother greeted Rose warmly before sitting her down on the sitting room sofa and bombarding her with questions. Scorpius was stopped by his cousin on his way over to sit beside her.

“Who’s the girl?” His cousin asked rudely.

“Rose.” Scorpius replied shortly, knowing and dreading where this conversation was heading.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Scorpius paused before answering. They still had yet to declare what they were, exactly. She was… Rose.

“Yes.”

His cousin narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. “You don’t sound positive. Does she know she’s your girlfriend?”

“Why do you care, Austin?” Scorpius asked angrily. His cousin smirked.

“She’s pretty hot.” He said by way of answer. “I’m going to go introduce myself.”

The conversation between Rose and Austin didn’t last long, as dinner was served soon after he sat down beside her. 

“He’s such an asshole.” Scorpius said angrily as he sat down beside Rose on the seat his grandmother had just vacated.

“Who?” Rose asked, breaking a cookie in half. Everyone had dispersed around the sitting room after supper, eating pastries and chatting.

“My cousin.” Scorpius said, taking half the cookie out of her hand. Rose looked across the room at him, and he winked in response.

“Why is he doing that?” Rose asked, taking a bite of her cookie.

“Because you’re hot and he has no morals.”

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“That’s what I meant by no morals.” Scorpius said, eating the cookie slowly. “He asked if you were my girlfriend.”

“What did you say?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Scorpius smirked at her, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Remember when I said you could provide me with some entertainment?” He asked her.

“Yeah.” She replied, leaning into his kisses slightly.

“Well, I’m getting pretty tired of my cousin leering at you, and I don’t think anyone will miss us very much…”

Rose stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth and stood, offering him her hand. “Let’s go.” She said, allowing him to lead her upstairs. 

“Where did your son find her?” Daphne asked her sister, looking at Rose as Scorpius as they not-so-subtly retreated upstairs.

“I have no idea.” Astoria replied, “She’s adorable.”

“She was so nice to me, asking about Vance and me over dinner. Oh, and the way Scorpius looked at her!” Daphne said. “I wish Austin was in a relationship like that.”

“Did Rose go home?” Austin asked his Aunt Astoria further into the evening. Austin knew the girl was very pretty, and he honestly liked messing with his cousin. After several Christmas’s of his girlfriend paying more attention to Scorpius than him, Austin was all too keen to return the favour.

“No, she and Scorpius went upstairs a while ago.” His aunt replied, as though the thought of her son and his… girlfriend alone upstairs wasn’t awkward in the slightest.

“I see.” Austin said slowly.

“Rose is just the sweetest thing. She’s ever so polite. Scorpius complains about it a lot, but he really loves her very much.” Astoria said rather dreamily.

“That’s… wonderful.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Austin wondered if his Aunt could tell that he had no desire to continue this conversation. “She’s good for him. Isn’t that right, Draco?” Astoria asked her husband who was passing by.

“What?”

“Rose is good for Scorpius.”

“Oh. Um, yes. She is.” Austin’s uncle replied stiffly, as though he would rather not think about it.

“And who her parents are doesn’t matter, right?” Astoria said as though she was training her husband.

“Of course not.” Draco said wearily. “It doesn’t matter at all.”

Rose and Scorpius chose that moment to renter the sitting room. Rose’s hair, previously down, was now pulled back in a messy plait and Scorpius’s hair was shamelessly mussed. Their cheeks were flushed slightly and their clothing was wrinkled, as though they weren’t even trying to hide what they had been doing. Astoria looked amused while Draco looked uncomfortable. When Scorpius caught his cousin’s eye and winked suggestively, Austin had no doubt in his mind that they had sex. Rose picked up conversation with Astoria easily, both ignoring Rose’s appearance, while Scorpius smirked at his father.

“Shouldn’t you be taking Rose home soon?” His father asked, sounding tired.

“She’s spending the night.” Scorpius replied as if it was no big deal. Austin felt immediately uncomfortable. He and his parents were spending the night as well, and Austin’s guest room was right beside Scorpius’s. 

Austin was disturbed to discover that the silencing charms on the manor had faded over time and no one had bothered to repair them. As a result, he could hear the entire conversation next door.

“Do you have anything for me to wear, Scorpius?”

“You don’t have to wear anything, darling.” Scorpius replied easily.

“Not tonight, Scorpius. You always fall asleep on top of me.” Rose said sternly.

“Fine. Wear this.” Scorpius said. “But we’re doing it tomorrow morning.”

“Of course.” Rose said obviously, and Austin made a mental note to get out of bed early the next day. “You’re squashing me again.” She said, her voice slightly muffled.

“You’re too tiny, Princess.” What a stupid endearment. “Are you really trying to push me? You aren’t very strong, are you?” Scorpius said with amusement.

“You are so annoying.” Rose said, sounding strained. 

“You’re so adorable when you try to be angry.” Scorpius said. There was a rustling of blankets. “Goodnight, love.”

“Night, Scorpius.” Rose said sleepily.

The pair of them didn’t come downstairs until eleven the following morning.

“I should probably go home soon.” Rose said as she sipped tea. 

“What time did you say you were going to be home?” Scorpius asked, eating her toast.

“I didn’t really specify, but judging from their reactions when I told them I was coming over here for Christmas dinner, they probably won’t be too pleased I spent the night again.”

“Good to know your family still hates me.” Scorpius said.

“Can’t imagine why.” Austin said with an eye roll.

Rose smiled at him and ruffled Scorpius’s hair. “They’ll come around eventually. Dad’s still upset about you abducting me during the summer.” Rose said.

“I realize now I could have approached that better.” Scorpius said grudgingly. 

Scorpius took Rose home around one and came back half an hour later, hair messy and eyes slightly wild.

“Her cousin tried to hex me and got his brother instead.” Scorpius explained vaguely to the confused looks his family was giving him.

“Oh, dear! Is he okay?” Astoria asked, concerned. Scorpius shrugged.

“Mr. Potter was finding the counter-hex when I left.”

“He must really not like you.” Austin said, not sure whether he should be amused or wary.

“Probably didn’t help that I called him a cowardly Gryffindor who should stop worrying about his cousins’ sex life and get one of his own.”

Draco sighed and put his head in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news people - I finished it! It's going to end at chapter 12, I just got to got through with some editing. I hope you liked chapter 9, though, because I really did. Honestly, writing about the Malfoy's is my fav.
> 
> My archaeology 103 class is cancelled tomorrow which is AWESOME because who really needs an education anyway? I also had two full meals today and I feel pretty sick right now. Jumping from half a plate of Chinese food to both a lunch AND a dinner in one day is not a fun transition. I probably won't eat much tomorrow. Not that that's much of a change.


	10. Seventh Year pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unicorns and beaches are not dangerous

Ever since Albus gave James a face full of growing boils, he had actively avoided Scorpius even more than usual. Scorpius wasn’t sure how Rose felt about it, but she seemed just as happy as always. She still had Hugo as a family member who didn’t hate Scorpius, and that seemed to make up for the indifferent shoulder Albus would give her.

“I’m going to go see the baby unicorns.” Rose said randomly one morning.

“There is so much context here I don’t have.” Scorpius replied.

“Hugo was visiting Hagrid yesterday and he told me that Hagrid has some baby unicorns, so I’m going to go see them.” She said as though it was common knowledge. 

“I’m not going.” Scorpius said.

“Alright. I’ll be back later.” Rose said, unconcerned. Scorpius watched her leave before standing up and going to the Ravenclaw table.

“How dangerous are baby unicorns?” Scorpius asked Hugo, ignoring the stares of the other house members.

“Um, not very. They prefer girls but aside from that they’re pretty harmless. The older ones can be a little scary sometimes.” Hugo said, unaware of Scorpius’s mounting anxiety.

“Does Hagrid have any older unicorns?” He asked.

“Well, yeah, the fowls didn’t just appear.” Hugo said, but Scorpius was gone before he finished the sentence. 

Scorpius didn’t follow her closely. He stayed at a farther distance, determined not to be seen. He wasn’t sure how Rose would react if she found out he was following her, even if it was just to make sure she was going to be safe. He wondered fleetingly if this would be too overbearing. Scorpius quickly found that he didn’t care if it was.

She met Hagrid by his hut, his hair more grey than ever, though just as eager to show off his magical creatures. Rose stood by the pasture, holding food out for them and letting them eat it from the palm of her hand. If Scorpius wasn’t so worried that Rose was going to get injured in some way, he would have found the golden fur of the unicorns very pretty as it reflected the March sun. The older, silver unicorns didn’t seem to care about Rose as she pet the babies – fowls, whatever. Half an hour later, as she bid goodbye to Hagrid, Scorpius rushed back to the castle to casually be walking towards the library. Was he too paranoid? Maybe he was. Hagrid had been right there, and he was much more certified and much more useful in the rare event of a unicorn attack that Scorpius could have been.

“I saw you.” Rose said after dinner as they sat in the library.

“Saw me what?” Scorpius asked cautiously.

“Watching me when I was at Hagrid’s.”

“Ah.” Scorpius replied, looking down at his textbook.

“Why did you do it? If you wanted to come with me you could have, you know, come with me.” Rose said, exasperated. 

“I didn’t want to, but then Hugo said they could be dangerous…” Scorpius’s voice trailed off as he saw Rose looking at him in annoyance. 

“Hugo said that because Louis told him last summer that a unicorn ate his twin brother when he was nine.”

“I would agree with Hugo, then – they sound pretty scary.” Scorpius replied, mounting his mental unicorn danger meter even higher.

“Louis never had a twin brother. Or any brother.” Scorpius’s mental unicorn danger meter fell quickly. “You have to stop being so paranoid, Scorpius. The world isn’t out to kill me.” Scorpius didn’t have an argument for that. “You can’t always be worrying about me. You have to let me live my own life.”

Something about that sounded alarming. “You aren’t… you aren’t breaking up with me, are you?” Scorpius wondered if this is what a panic attack felt like.

Rose’s eyes widened. “No, no, of course not.” She let him pull her tightly against him and bury his face in her hair. “You just have to stop treating me like a delicate flower.”

“I… okay. I can do that.” Scorpius agreed, holding her closer.

“Really?” Rose asked.

Scorpius kissed her before pulling back and smirking. “When have I ever said no to you?”

“All the time. You always say no. Just yesterday-” Scorpius chuckled before kissing her again.

-

Tensions were running high as exams neared. The library grew more and more crowded as June grew closer, and over the Easter break, every seventh and fifth year seemed to be studying. There was never an empty classroom available anymore, the common rooms were full of annoying first and second years, prefects were taking points for breathing too loud, and no one took a second glance when someone burst into tears.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Scorpius said one night, pulling Rose away from a textbook.

“But we have to study Potions.” Rose said weakly.

“I don’t have to study Potions, sweetheart.” Scorpius said smugly.

“Well, I do.” Rose replied, trying to pull out of his grasp.

“Not tonight. Tonight, we’re going out.”

“But-” Scorpius turned and kissed her before she could come up with another excuse.

“Come on, darling. Live a little.” Scorpius whispered before he led her out of the common room.

“Where are we going?” Rose asked Scorpius.

“Shh, Salazar, could you be any louder?” Scorpius hissed, covering her mouth with his hand before peeking around the next corner. It was well past curfew now, and they were definitely not supposed to be out of bed. At least he had the brains to disillusion them. Those idiots that got caught because they forgot they were magical were the worst. “We’re going to the beach.”

“We’re sneaking out of the castle at one in the morning to go to the lake?” Rose asked, incredulous. “We can do that within school rules tomorrow afternoon!”

Scorpius laughed. “Oh, love. When I break the rules, I break the rules.”

“What do you-” Rose watched Scorpius tap the statue of the one-eyed witch and open the passage way. “This is against school rules!” Rose said. Scorpius ignored her and dragged her down the passageway. Scorpius ate a stray chocolate frog in the basement of Honeydukes (“That is stealing, Scorpius!”) before gripping her arm and disapparating. 

“Oh my…” Scorpius watched Rose as she walked slowly to the edge of the short cliff. “It’s so pretty!”

“Yes, it is.” Scorpius agreed, watching her.

“Where are we?” She asked, digging her toes into the sand.

“Some beach my parents used to take me in the summers when I was little.” Scorpius walked to the girl watching the waves and put an arm around her waist.

The waves lapped at side of the cliff as they stood in silence, watching the stars. “How mad would you be if I threw you in?” Scorpius asked her. She whipped round in his arm.

“Don’t you d-” The rest of her words were lost as Scorpius picked her up and threw her into the water, diving after her.

Scorpius’s feet just managed to reach the sandy bottom as Rose bobbed beside him, sputtering with her wet hair in her face. Scorpius pulled her into his arm and smoothed back her hair to reveal a very angry Rose glaring at him. He smirked in response and kissed her as the cold water flowed around them.

“We’re still wearing our pyjamas.” Rose said through his kisses. “They’re all wet now.”

“If only we had some sort of means to dry our clothing within seconds.” Scorpius said with an eye roll. “It’s not like we have magic wands or anything.” Rose hit him on the shoulder and leaned in to kiss him. “You know you’re beautiful, right? And perfect? I really don’t deserve you.” Scorpius said quietly between kisses, as though it was a secret no one else could hear.

Rose looked up at the stars. “Hey, Scorpius?” He nodded, kissing the corner of her mouth. “I think I just fell in love with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two chapters left!!! Pretty proud of myself for finishing this before final exams started. I hope you liked this chapter, and I looked in Fantastic Beasts and I couldn't be bothered to write about how if you mistreat a unicorn it will probably kill you but for the point of this we're going to pretend that they're super chill. Remember to review!!
> 
> Update on my really exciting life: Soooo I'm majoring in the super useless subject of anthropology (there are no careers you can get from an anth major except professor or museum curator, neither of which are appealing in the slightest), which I do not suggest. Anyway, there is a pretty rad summer program my school offers for anth and it's a six week volunteer and sustainability course and site work in Tanzania. Tan-fucking-zania. So I applied for this thing because it's TANZANIA (if you ever do take an anth course, bio anth and archaeology are in love with this country - there is so much cool shit in Tanzania) AND I GOT IN. I got the email like fifteen minutes ago and just sent snapchats and facebook messages of the screenshot of the email to all my friends (like, four) so that is AWESOME. If you ever have a weird desire to learn about Tanzania, comment!!!
> 
> Or add me on snapchat at urabagofdicks (I'm so sorry, I refuse to say it out loud)
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!


	11. Seventh Year pt. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NEWTs have finally come to an end, and seven years of Hogwarts education is concluding.

They made it through exams with minimal breakdowns and a lot of de-stressing shagging, as Scorpius had told Rose they would. Now that they had no reason to spend time in the library, they found themselves lounging under a tree by the lake, lazily patting the Giant Squid and dozing in the sun.

“What’s happening after graduation?” Scorpius asked Rose. There were only a few days left in their time at Hogwarts, and Rose was throwing pieces of toast at the squid. “Like, to us?”

“I guess we’re going to have to find a flat first.” Rose said, tossing the last of her toast into the lake and leaning back against him.

Scorpius let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “So, we are staying together?”

“Well, yeah, I mean… do you want to?” Rose looked nervous now, stiffening slightly. Scorpius leaned down and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her body tightly.

“That’s all I want, love.” He said quietly, and she smiled up at him.

“We also need to think of careers, of course.” Rose said, back to business. Scorpius reached up and twirled a lock of her hair. “I’ve applied to a few places but I’m not sure where I want to go. My mum says I should go to magical law and Uncle George wants me at the joke shop and Vic says I should be a Healer… there really aren’t that many jobs out there.”

“Be a photographer. I’ll model nude for you. I’m definitely hot enough.” Scorpius paused. “On second thought, that might not work. You would get too distracted.”

“You are extremely arrogant, you know that, right?”

“It’s one of my many charms.”

“What are you going to do?” Rose asked.

“I dunno. I was planning on letting you organize everything for me.” Scorpius replied, and Rose couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

“I’m not even sure we’ll have enough money to move out right away.” Rose said, biting her lip. “Neither of us have a job or even have a job opportunity.”

“I have a few thousand galleons from my grandfather, so I wouldn’t worry about that.” Scorpius said, tying her hair in knots.

Rose sighed. “Well, we have about three days left to try to figure this out, and I’m tired.” With that, Rose closed her eyes and fell asleep, Scorpius following soon after.

-

Albus was looking for his cousin. Ever since she had started to hang out Malfoy, he had seen less and less of her, especially following the incident in the Potions dungeon in sixth year and the misplaced hex at Christmas. But, they were almost done their time at Hogwarts, the Albus didn’t want to end seven years of magical schooling on bad terms with a girl who was once his best friend.

He found her by the lake. It was always easy to spot her, with her absolute monstrosity of red hair. This time, however, she was leaning on someone with hair as blond as his Aunt Fleur’s. There was no mistaking it – if Albus wanted to talk to Rose, he was going to have to talk to Scorpius Malfoy.

As he walked closer, it was growing more obvious that they were both asleep, Scorpius’s arms around her. Albus paused. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do now. He could wake them up, but he wasn’t sure what Scorpius was like after sleeping (and he honestly was never planning on finding that out) and, besides, Rose looked rather peaceful.

Albus was never very graceful, as everyone knew from his stumble that caused the hex to hit James instead of its intended target, and before he could turn and walk back to the castle, he tripped loudly over an overgrown root, swearing as he hit the ground. He looked up to see Scorpius staring back at him. Neither of them spoke.

“Um, hello, Malfoy.” Albus finally said.

“Hello, Potter.” He replied impassively. Albus noticed the way his hand played with Rose’s hair.

“I was just looking for Rose.” 

“May I take a message? Or were you planning on coming back when she was conscious?” Scorpius asked.

Albus looked at his cousin’s face and sighed. “I just wanted to talk to her before we all graduated and… went our separate ways.”

Scorpius snorted. “That’s touching.” They didn’t say anything for a while. Scorpius looked out over the lake and Albus glanced between the two seventh years sitting under the tree. “Do you have something else to say, or are you just admiring the view?” Scorpius asked, smirking as Albus reddened slightly. 

“I’ll talk to her later.” Albus said, turning to leave.

“Al?” A sleepy voice asked. Albus looked back to see his cousin blinking slowly, looking in his direction. Scorpius continued to play with her hair, watching the Giant Squid. “What’re you doing here?”

“Just wanted to say…” Albus hadn’t really prepared a speech. Generally, he relied on Rose for these sorts of things.

“Sit down, it’s a lovely day.” Rose said. Albus glanced awkwardly at Scorpius, who seemed to not notice him. Cautiously, he sat down a few feet from the couple. “How did your exams go?”

It was times like this when Albus remembered just why he loved his cousin so much. She was so easy to get along with and she always seemed genuinely interested in who she was talking to. They fell, more or less, back into their previous relationship.

“Are you still planning on being a Healer?”

“Yeah, I think so. Alice and I are getting a place together in London. She’s looking for a job in the Ministry.”

“Magical Law, right? She was always talking to Mum about her work.” Albus appreciated just how much Rose remembered.

“Yeah. Your mum actually lined up an internship for her.”

“That’s great. Scorpius and I were just talking about our plans after graduation. It looks like the two of you have it mostly laid out. I’m jealous.”

“Do the two of you have any plans?” Albus asked awkwardly.

“We’re going to find a place, but neither of us really knows what we’re doing. I might try to get some work in Potions and I think Rose would do well in Magical Relations.” Rose and Albus both looked at Scorpius with interest.

“You have always been good at Potions.” Rose agreed. 

“Why Magical Relations?” Al asked.

“Because she’s so fucking nice to everyone and gets along so well. She got my father to hold a civil conversation with her once or twice, and that’s pretty amazing.”

Al hated to admit it, but Scorpius and Rose seemed to really like each other, much more than some sort of lustful infatuation, especially when he saw the little smile Rose gave Scorpius and the way she kissed his cheek.

“Would you guys like to… come have supper with us? At the Gryffindor table?” Albus asked as other students around the grounds started to head inside. Rose smiled brightly at him.

“Sure!” She said, pulling Scorpius up with her, who looked apprehensive but held her hand anyway.

They got more than a couple strange looks as the three of the walked through the Dining Hall. It was not uncommon knowledge that Scorpius and Albus were not of the best of terms – many had been present during Scorpius’s assault on Albus the year earlier. Hugo seemed to notice them heading for the Gryffindor table and stood to join them. Lily and the other girl (Roxanne, as Rose introduced her) looked at Scorpius in confusion, but welcomed them all the same. Scorpius wasn’t having a great time – everyone was still weird around him and the conversations were awkward, but they got through it none the less. Rose was happy, at least, and that’s all Scorpius really cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was it??? They're officially done school!! So proud of my little nerds. Please remember to review!! 
> 
> I did my 'didn't eat for twenty four hours because I'm an idiot' again today.


	12. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After graduation, life goes on.

Their flat was small. Not uncomfortably so – it had everything two low-maintenance people needed. There was a kitchen and enough space for a table, there was a sitting room and an office large enough for Scorpius set up with his Potions equipment, there was a bedroom and a bathroom and a window overlooking muggle London, only a few (like, fourteen) blocks from the Ministry. 

Scorpius was making dinner when there was a knock on the door. “Oi! Door!” He shouted to Rose as he tried not to burn the pasta sauce.

Rose stuck out her tongue at him before getting up and opening the front door. “Mum?” Rose asked, and Scorpius dropped the metal spoon he was holding. “Hello! What are you doing here?” Rose asked, opening the door wider to let her mother in.

“I came to see you, of course!” Hermione exclaimed. Scorpius wasn’t sure if she was ignoring him or had somehow missed the loud profanities he had uttered when the spoon landed on his foot, splashing him with hot pasta sauce. “I wanted to see how you’ve settled into your new place!” She looked around the sitting room approvingly.

“Yes, it’s quite lovely.” Rose said, still slightly confused as to why her mother was there. “Scorpius and I managed to set up the last of the bookshelf this morning.”

It seemed that Hermione finally noticed Scorpius, who was jabbing the pot with his wand and muttering darkly. “Hello, Scorpius, how are you?” Scorpius turned off the boiling pasta and moved the sauce off the burner.

“Fantastic.” He grunted as boiling water splashed his hand. When Hermione didn’t reply, he drained the pasta and poured the slightly burned sauce over it. “Would you like to have dinner? With us?” Scorpius asked out of convention, but the beaming smile Rose gave him made it worth it.

“That would be nice, thank you.” Hermione said politely.

Dinner was awkward, to say the least. They chatted well enough, with Hermione asking about their jobs and plans and Rose asking about her dad and her mother’s career. Scorpius sat quietly beside Rose, only answering questions directly to him. 

“It’s great to see you both so happy.” Hermione said as Rose put their dishes in the dishwasher – Scorpius thrived on some muggle inventions.

“It’s been great here.” Rose agreed, taking a seat beside Scorpius on the couch, and Scorpius smirked at Rose and pulled her against him, kissing the top of her head as though Hermione wasn’t even in the room.

-

Hermione Weasley loved Rose very much, but she didn’t like her choices. She had yet to have a good interaction with Scorpius Malfoy. He was rather impassive at the manor and didn’t leave Rose’s side during the afternoon tea later the same day, though she hadn’t quite blamed him for that – the way some of the other adults were looking at him would make Hermione feel like an outcast, too. And last Christmas was a bit of a nightmare. Honestly, the boy was treated rather rudely, and Albus’s hex was slightly out of line, though Hermione wasn’t about to reprimand her nephew.

But the way he and Rose would look at each other! After they had left school, Scorpius had come over to help her pack, and every time the met eyes it was like no one else was in the room. Hugo seemed to like him, and according to her son they got along quite well at school, so he couldn’t be all that bad, and he and Albus seemed civil when he came to say good-bye to his cousin. He hardly spoke to her or Ron, though.

For almost a year, Hermione believed Rose could do better. Hermione thought she could find a nice boy who would be a gentleman to her family and get a solid job and propose to her daughter by the time she was twenty-five.

Scorpius was not really those things. He didn’t contribute to the conversations unless he was spoken to and apparently he had a job as a potioneer. Needless to say, Rose would be making most of their income for a long time. And he really didn’t seem like the marrying type. But he way he seemed to treat Rose as through she was precious melted her heart ever so slightly. When Hermione has passed by Rose’s closed door when he was at their house, he had been talking to her in a soft voice Hermione didn’t even know he was capable of. And just now, as he acted like she wasn’t even there, instead of feeling insulted she felt relieved.

When he excused himself to go work on a potion bubbling in the next room, Hermione turned to Rose.

“He seems…” Hermione couldn’t find the right adjective. Rose seemed to understand.

“He can come on a little hostile and he’s not really great around people he doesn’t know very well.”

“I can hear you!” Scorpius shouted from the office, though he sounded strangely amused. “Don’t forget ‘slightly impolite’ and ‘prefers not to talk to people in general.’”

Rose rolled her eyes. “But I do love him very much.”

Hermione found herself smiling at her daughter. “I’m very glad to hear that. You and Scorpius should come to dinner on Sunday. Hugo would love to play a game of chess before he goes back to school – he’s always talking about the two of you.”

“That sounds great, mum. We’d love to.” Hermione left the flat significantly more reassured than when she had arrived.

-

“I really don’t want to go to Sunday dinner.” Scorpius said, running a hand down Rose’s arm.

“I really don’t care.” She replied, snuggling into him.

“Your father will try to kill me.”

“The key word here being ‘try.’” Rose said sleepily.

“That is not reassuring.” Scorpius said, but put an arm around her anyway and let himself fall asleep.

Sunday dinner didn’t end in Scorpius’s death. And neither did the Sunday dinner a month later. When Scorpius went to a Quiddich game with about six different members of Rose’s family no one seemed to care about what his last name was. He was just Rose’s boyfriend, like Matt was Roxanne’s boyfriend and Lorcan was Lily’s boyfriend and Lysander was Hugo’s boyfriend. And he was fine with that. He went with Rose to James’s wedding and no one tried to hex him.

“Why did you sit beside me in History? I mean, not just because of Hugo. You said mostly.” Scorpius asked Rose one night as the TV showed re-runs of some muggle show.

Rose gave him a small smile. “Because I thought you were interesting and I wanted to be your friend.” 

Scorpius smirked at her. “I’m good with that answer.”

In the end, Scorpius loved Rose, and she loved him back, and nothing else mattered. They weren’t a Malfoy and a Weasley or a devil and an angel. They were Scorpius and Rose and that was all they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently these daily update didn't catch up with me. Here you go, then. 12 straight days of Opposites Attract. I really hope you liked it, and I would love it if y'all reviewed. Also, if anyone has any desire for me to write/publish another story, leave a comment - I have like 6 half finished.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! xx

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for making it this far. I already wrote another two chapters so I'll update those soon and I'm still working on it, so hopefully I'll be able to finish this before my final exams in December. Also, never go to university. It is awful and so much work and that assignment worth 30% I mentioned earlier? Yeah, there are assignments worth 30 fucking percent in every class, and all the profs have office hours during my other classes, and it's an achievement when I only cry once in a day.
> 
> Also the chapters might be uneven in length, because I'm still trying to find decent breaks in the story to make into chapters, as it was meant to be a one shot so... sorry about that.


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